President Barrow inaugurates Joint Transition Team

President Adama Barrow and his Joint Transition Team

The President of the Republic of The Gambia, His Excellency Adama Barrow today, February 15, 2017, inaugurated a ‘Joint Transition Team’ at a ceremony held at his temporal office at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Senegambia.

The Joint Transition team comprises of current and former Ministers and Vice Presidents. The ceremony brought together dignitaries from the UNDP, Transition Expert, Secretary General, Permanent Secretaries, Executive Members of the Coalition 2016, Media and among a host of others.

“As you know, on 19^th January, I had the honour to be sworn in as the President of the Republic of the Gambia, reflecting the will of the people expressed in free elections,” President Barrow reminded the gathering as he launches the Joint Transition Team.

“We are assembled here today for an important step on our democratic agenda- the inauguration of a Joint Transition Team.”

Former Prime Minister of Togo to head United Nations rural poverty agency

IFAD President, Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo

Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo, former Prime Minister of Togo, has been appointed as the sixth President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized United Nations agency and international financial institution that invests in eradicating rural poverty in developing countries around the world.   

“I have come from the rural world. I have first-hand knowledge of the harshness of this kind of life,”  said Houngbo, who was appointed by IFAD’s member states at the organization’s annual Governing Council meeting.

Houngbo takes up the helm at a time when changing government priorities and the more immediate needs of humanitarian crises – like natural disasters, conflict and refugees – threaten to divert funding away from long-term development.

With growing global demand for food, increased migration to cities and the impact of climate change, investments in agriculture and rural development will be essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of ending poverty and hunger. 

‘Let’s protect our mangroves to prevent erosion’

Mr. Lamin Fatty, the former Public Relations Officer (P.R.O) of the Village Development Committee (VDC) of Faraba Banta village has called for greater protection of our mangroves emphasizing the importance of the intervention by Nema-Chosso towards the restoration of the mangroves in their communities as it will help prevent erosion, maintain water quality and clarity, filtering pollutants and trapping sediments originating from the land. Fatty said this while speaking to Mansa Banko Blog at the project site.

The Faraba Banta Nema-Chosso Mangroves Restoration Project is being implemented by the Department of Parks and Wildlife Management (DoPWM), as Service Providers contracted by Nema-Chosso.

Dilating on the genesis of this intervention, Fatty stated that it was during their tenure as members of the VDC that they had forged a relationship/partnership with the DoPWM, which facilitated the eventual intervention of Nema-Chosso, thus  cementing the partnership and supporting the community to restore mangroves.